Case Keenum marks 16th Starting Quarterback since Elway
By Andrew Wade
The start of the Manning era
Despite the successful run the previous season, Tebow’s time was always limited in Denver. The difficulty was finding out how to get rid of a fan favorite. Tebow’s ascent coincided with the release of one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL.
The timing could not be more perfect.
Elway courted Manning diligently. Even though Manning was coming off a career-threatening neck injury, the opportunity to sign him could not be passed on. Additionally, it allowed Elway to ship Tebow off without disrupting a fan base that fell in love with Tebow during his lucky run.
Peyton Manning
Without a doubt, Manning is the second most successful quarterback in Denver Broncos history. He will be a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee and will eventually be inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame.
In four seasons as a Bronco, Manning led the Broncos to four straight divisional titles, two Super Bowls, and one Super Bowl victory. He racked up three Pro Bowl selections, two All-Pro selections, one NFL MVP, and one Offensive Player of the year award.
In 2013, Manning turned in one of the best seasons as a quarterback in the history of the NFL. He set season record for passing yards and touchdowns. Regardless of the offensive prowess, Denver was overmatched in the Super Bowl and lost to the Seahawks.
Manning’s fourth season saw a great deal of controversy as Manning struggled throughout the season. Ultimately, injuries and father-time were not being kind to Manning. After sitting out due to injury, Brock Osweiler took over and performed quite admirably.
When Manning returned from injury, Kubiak kept Osweiler in as the starter. It wasn’t until the final game of the season, after Osweiler struggled to get Denver going, that Manning entered the game and remained the starter throughout the playoffs.
Unfortunately, his playoff run was plagued by bad decisions, inaccuracy, and generally poor play that Broncos Country was not familiar with from Manning. Thankfully, Von Miller and Denver’s number one defense took the reigns and led Denver to their first and only Super Bowl victory since Elway’s last season.
Manning retired the following season.
Brock Osweiler
There was such high hope for Brock after Elway drafted him in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. After sitting behind Manning for three seasons, Osweiler finally got the opportunity to shine when Manning went down with an injury. Brock stepped in admirably during Denver’s 2015 Super Bowl run, starting seven games including an incredible overtime victory against the Patriots.
In his seven games, Brock won five and lost two. He completed just under 2,000 yards passing with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. He even garnered AFC Player of the Week honors in his first start against the Bears.
In spite of all of this, Brock was benched after struggling in the season finale against the Chargers. Manning entered the game and never looked back.
After Manning’s retirement, Brock spurned the Broncos in favor of the Houston Texans. Obviously, Elway lucked out as Brock had a disastrous season in Houston. After 2016, he was traded to the Browns with a second round pick.
The Browns released Brock before the season began and he signed on with Denver as a backup. With Siemian struggling and Lynch injured, Brock managed to start a four more games for Denver. While he did show life, his statistics were incredibly average. His quarterback rating was 72.5.
Elway and company opted to let Brock walk at the conclusion of 2017.
Trevor Siemian
Siemian is quite the story. He went from unheralded backup selected in the seventh round out of Northwestern to the unlikely heir to Manning. Nevertheless, Siemian did not live up to the expectations of Broncos fans.
After winning the starting job after a three-man competition in 2016, Siemian went on to start 14 games completing 59.5% of his passes for 3,401 yards. He threw 18 touchdowns to only 10 interceptions. These stats were not setting the record books on fire, but for a second-year starter, they were modestly hopeful of things to come.
Heading in 2017, Siemian found himself again in an open competition with Paxton Lynch. He won easily and went on to start the season 3-1. He even graced the cover of Sports Illustrated due to his hot start.
It only went downhill from there and after multiple bad games with quite a few poor decisions, Siemian was benched in favor of Lynch and Osweiler.
Trevor was traded to the Vikings this offseason for a late round draft pick.
Paxton Lynch
Paxton Lynch is one of those guys people love to hate. The former first round draft pick out of Memphis is not living up to expectations as it currently stands. Coming out of college, he was projected as a two to three year project with a ton of potential.
However, people get impatient and his four starts in two years have shown fans little. In those four starts, he has thrown for just under 800 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. These stats aren’t awful, but the decision-making and off-field work ethic have left much to be desired.
Heading in season three, Lynch will compete with Chad Kelly for the backup position behind Case Keenum.